Why Are Poultry Eggs Egg-Shaped?
Egg-shaped is the perfect shape for poultry eggs for many reasons, from the egg’s inception right up to the hatching of a new chick.
Gather Beechnuts and Bake Delicious Beechnut Cookies
In the woods on our Tennessee farm we discovered several American Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia), which grow only in the eastern United States. This deciduous hardwood is slow growing and long lived. In some years it produces lots of beechnuts,...
What Do Chickens and Tomato Plants Have in Common?
You wouldn’t think that chickens and tomato plants have much in common. But over the years of growing both, I’ve seen several parallels. Some of the comparisons pertain to any living thing, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting....
How Ducks See Affects Their Behavior
Without moving its head, a duck can see horizontally all the way around, and vertically from above its bill and over the top of its head to more than 180 degrees behind its head. Ducks thus can see most of...
Grow Your Own Peanuts and Roast Them, Too!
Peanuts develop in pods underground, in a process called pegging. When I first learned about pegging I wasn’t sure how it worked. So, of course, I had to grow some peanuts and find out. After that first trial I’ve been...
Built-In Wooden Brooder Boxes
In an underused part of our barn, some years ago we constructed built-in wooden brooder boxes. They turned out to be ideal for brooding baby poultry without eternally scrounging for cardboard boxes. Not only that, but we have used them...
How to Milk a Dairy Goat — A Beginner’s Guide
When a doe gives birth, her body produces milk for her kids, in a process called freshening. Most dairy goats produce more than their kids need. And they continue to produce for a while after the kids stop nursing. So...
How to Care for Newborn Goat Kids
Most goat kids are born without human help. You might, in fact, go out to check on your pregnant doe only to find she has already given birth. However, it’s always a good idea to be there during the event,...
Roasted Whole Chicken — Awesome Alternative to Turkey
Instead of serving turkey during holidays, at our house we serve roasted whole chicken. The size better suits our small family, and we still have plenty of leftovers for next-day sandwiches. What type of chicken? I have roasted both American...
Do Chickens Have Good Hearing?
Chickens hear better than humans. But how do they hear without “ears”? And what do they hear? In short, how and why do chickens have such good hearing? How Chickens Hear A chicken has ears on both sides of its...
A Chicken’s Defense Strategies
As vulnerable prey animals, chickens have developed numerous defense strategies for evading predators. Depending on the proximity of a predator, the chicken’s defense strategies may be categorized as either primary or secondary. Primary Defense Strategies Primary defenses are always ready...